Bainbridge considering ban on plastic bags

Bainbridge Mayor Kirsten Hytopoulos is crafting a proposed bag prohibition patterned after the one the Seattle City Council unanimously approved on Monday. She will formally propose the measure early next month.

If approved, Bainbridge would become the fifth city in Washington to ban thin-film plastic bags, after Seattle, Bellingham, Edmonds and Mukilteo.

"This is a little thing we can do that will have a huge impact," Hytopoulos said.

Hytopoulos said the plastic bags commonly used at grocery stores are wasteful and harmful to the environment.

About 12 percent of the plastic bags used last year went to a recycling center, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The rest ended up in landfills, waterways and elsewhere.

Environment Washington, the group that spearheaded the Seattle ban and is helping Hytopoulos with her proposal, considers plastic bags a threat to whales, seals, salmon and other Puget Sound marine life. The group points to a gray whale that was found to have 20 plastic bags in its stomach after it died on a West Seattle last year.

"The impact that single-use plastic bags are having on wildlife and Puget Sound is inexcusable," Hytopoulos said.

Town & Country Market, one of two supermarkets on Bainbridge, strongly supports the ban.

"One of our company's core values is environmental stewardship — and from that perspective we support a plastic bag ban," said Tony D'Onofrio, T&C's sustainability director.

D'Onofrio stressed that the ban should come with a small customer charge for paper bag use. Paper bags cost the market almost six times more than the 2-cent plastic ones they also carry.

Seattle's ban came with a 5-cent fee for paper bags. The fee's aim is to help offset the expected uptick in paper bag use.

Hytopoulos said she'll likely work a similar fee into her proposal.

"The smart thing to do is mimic the Seattle language," she said. "It obviously passed their legislative muster and was unanimously approved."

Hytopoulos predicted strong support for the ban from island residents and her fellow council members.

Councilwoman Debbi Lester backs the ban.

"It think it's awesome," she said. "We have to be more mindful of the products we use, and this is one way to take those steps."

The only pushback might be from the few island retailers that use thin-film plastic bags.

Hytopoulos met with T&Cs owners on Tuesday and plans to speak with other businesses that would be impacted by the ban, including Safeway, RiteAid, Walt's market in Lynwood Center and the island's three convenience stores.

The ban would not prohibit the thicker, heavier plastic bags common at small Winslow shops, Hytopoulos said.

The Seattle ban drew support from many large grocers but was opposed by the plastics industry, which helped defeat Seattle's 20-cent Seattle disposable-bag fee in 2009. This time around, the industry has put up less of a fight.

"I can't imagine any controversy here over this, especially when the big city across the water (Seattle) passed this," Hytopoulos said. "And with more cities doing this or talking about this, there is a sense of inevitability here."